Random News of the Day: Gene Simmons’s son plagiarized Tite Kubo’s Bleach?

Well here’s something you don’t hear everyday. A subject so common such as plagiarism gets a twist with a rock star’s son plagiarizing a famous mangaka. Gene Simmons’s son, Nick, was recently accused of plagiarizing Tite Kubo’s Bleach manga with his comic Incarnate.

The creator of Bleach, Tite Kubo, has stated his thoughts on the matter via Twitter: “I’m more interested in the fact that Gene Simmons’ son is a manga-ka than whether he’s plagiarizing me or not.” Interesting response but it doesn’t mean Nick is out of the hot water yet.

Radical, publisher of Incarnate, has stopped publishing the series until this matter is solved. VIZ Media, publisher of the English version of Bleach, stated that they are currently investigating the issue and thanks the fans for bringing it to their attention.

To make matters worse for Nick, a Facebook page that supposedly belongs to him posted comments like “I’ve never read a Japanese comic book or ‘magma’” and “Why would I name a comic after laundry detergent!” I don’t know if the real Nick Simmons posted these or if it’s from an imposter. The imposter could be a zealous Bleach fan who probably wants Nick to burn in Hell so they posted such comments to tarnish his reputation. Or, if it really was Nick Simmons, well, that was an idiotic move.

Many fans are outraged at such obvious copying, including myself. It’s one thing to be influenced by an artist but it’s another thing to imitate scenes/postures/facial expressions/designs from the series onto your own work. It was also a dumb move to copy a well-known series. Almost everyone who’s read manga or watch anime have seen or at least heard of Bleach. So what was Nick thinking when he used it as a “reference?” Someone was bound to find out about the similarities.

Also, am I only one who thinks that Incarnate actually looks interesting to read? But if I had the chance to read it, I would probably make Bleach comparisons. A shame, really…

You can see even more comparisons at Bleachness.

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